This year I started to look for those projects that could be potential game changers for the Hive ecosystem. While this post states number 4, it is really the first one of this kind. The others were discussed without really framing the articles in this manner.
The first 3 potential game changers for Hive are:
@Leofinance
3Speak by 
DLUX by 
These topics were covered in other posts providing greater details. One can also find more information by following the links to each blog.
This is something that 
NFTs really make a lot of sense of the gaming industry. With gaming, people are often buying or acquiring in-game assets. These assets are particular to that game and have value for that arena. The problem, since gaming tends to be proprietary, we see how removing that value is next to impossible. Some of the most popular games have secondary markets where those assets can be traded yet it is not commonplace. Plus, how do you truly identify ownership?
With NFTs, this problem is solved. Each in-game asset is given a NFT which is held by the player. This denotes ownership which can be held or transferred as the player sees fit.
The challenge with the first scenario is that as soon as one shuts the game off, the asset is basically lost. With the NFT, the asset can reside in a wallet, thus enabling an individual to move it. The value now resides outside the game itself.
Here we see another problem.
What if the player no longer is interested in that game? The asset, now operating outside the game has value but is only applicable there. Thus, the player either holds it as an asset to speculate upon or transfers it to someone else.
Upon entering a different game, the player starts over from scratch. Assets for that game either have to be purchased or earned. If the person was able to sell the asset from the other game, resources might be available. However, it is likely that one has to dig into his or her pocket again.
This is where Universal NFTs enter the picture. What if there was a way to use an asset in one game in many different games? Thus, the value from that first asset never goes away and one does not have to sell it when switching games. Certainly, this would not only help retain value but also enhance it.
It is the concept that the team is working upon. They are creating a marketplace whereby Universal Assets can reside. It will be open in the sense that developers can come in and join the network, thus partaking in gaming assets that are already developed.
Source: Wikipedia.com
So how will something like this work?
Suppose there is an asset in one game, magic dancing shoes. This particular game is build around dancing contests, so the shoes have value. They are also part of the marketplace.
Now let us look at another game that might be tied to the network, a space age game. This could take the magic dancing shoes and convert them to jet propulsion similar to Iron Man.
Here we see how the same NFT is tied to two games, having value in each. The characteristics simply change from one to the next. Ownership is still held by the original player even though the move from one game to another took place. While the value is held, the utility of the asset is increased.
Imagine if there were 5 or 10 games using the same NFT.
As we can see, the programmability of NFTs make it such that we can see enhanced value and user experience. This could make the gaming network that is tied to this marketplace even more attractive.
It is probably best to describe the vision of the marketplace.
The marketplace is going to be populated with NFTs from games the team is designing. One is already in operation called Thunkgaria. The NFTs that are designed will be universal in their nature. This means other developers can incorporate them into their projects.
There is one requirement. Any NFT on the marketplace can be used, however, a developer must contribute at least one new universal NFT to the platform. This is one of the ways growth will be achieved.
Hive comes into play in a couple different ways with the marketplace. To start, all transactions that printed to the blockchain. This, naturally, shows the path of ownership of an asset. As it is transferred, that is posted to Hive establishing clear ownership of the NFT. This is one of the basic benefits of blockchain.
The other way it is applicable is that all assets are going to be priced in HIVE (and perhaps HBD, not sure on that one). This means that all transactions will incur a transfer of HIVE.
What is interesting is that many will simply think that HIVE is just another gaming asset. The target is not to get crypto people but, rather, gamers involved. To be frank, most of then could care less about crypto yet that is where the market is. Gaming has an estimated 2 billion people globally involved.
At the same time, most game developers are not blockchain experts. Hence, creating games tied to a blockchain is not their forte.
This solves a lot of the issue. Games are developed in the same manner as always, using their server based system. The in-game assets are applied to the marketplace which does ties into blockchain. The games can be signed up for using whatever methods the developers are accustomed to (email, FB or Google account). Players can use whatever common payment method is applicable in that industry.
The difference is what happens on the back end. All transactions require Resource Credits to post to the Hive blockchain since there is a movement of both HIVE and the NFT.
Obviously, the majority of users will not have a Hive account. For those that do, it is a normal Hive transaction. As for the rest, I would guess it will simply use a proxy account to post to Hive, this having sufficient HP to transact.
Like always, the overall impact comes down to the success of the project. This is a marketplace that, if a number of developers integrate into it, can see a lot of transactions. A couple games that achieve a moderate degree of success can start to drive a lot of traffic.
The key is that while it is tied to blockchain, the users are completely unaware of it. After all, they really do not care how their assets are secure, simply that they are. This allows players to do with they do best, play games, without having to spend a great deal of time learning about keys, crypto, and wallet security.
It is an interesting concept that could have profound effects on Hive if it takes off.
We will have to watch how the development goes.
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